Queen Elizabeth Park has been targeted by vandals for the second time in the space of two weeks.
Damage from an attempted break-in at Coronation Hall was reported to police on Monday night at around 9.20pm, just 11 days after deep gouges in the park’s cricket oval caused by a joyrider in a car forced the season’s inaugural North vs South match to shift to a different venue.
Wairarapa Police area commander Scott Miller told the Times-Age that the vandal did not gain entry into the building through the smashed front door.
Meanwhile, a forensic examination was taken yesterday morning, and police are awaiting results to help identify the vandal.
Masterton District Council [MDC] Mayor Gary Caffell said he has no idea why someone would want to break into the recently refurbished, council-owned hall, given there’s nothing inside the premises to steal.
“It’s one of those things,” Caffell said.
“You tend to like to think people will look at a building like that or look at the cricket field and see how great they are for the town. But you will always get the people who will always do things that they shouldn’t do.
“It’s a huge disappointment. That’s a building which so many people have a great love for and just to see something like that happen for nothing is words beyond me.”
The hall, which previously housed hospitality businesses Cafe Cecille and Coco Cafe, now sits vacant while MDC decides what to use it for.
While decisions on the hall’s future have not yet been finalised, Caffell said MDC has received “quite considerable interest”, with one possibility being hiring it out as an art gallery, studio, or music venue.
“There’s a whole heap of stuff that could happen to it,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to going out into the market and just seeing where it sits.”
